ESG reporting is a team sport – it’s time for finance to wear the captain’s armband 

Like any good team sport, ESG reporting needs clear leadership, defined roles and a playbook everyone understands. And finance is best placed to lead the side. 

ESG reporting is no longer the exclusive domain of sustainability or compliance teams. As stakeholder expectations rise and regulation evolves, responsibility for delivering clear, auditable ESG data is increasingly shifting towards finance. But this shift can’t succeed in isolation. 

The reality is that ESG reporting spans multiple departments – from operations and HR to risk and supply chain. That’s why it must be approached as a cross-functional effort, with finance taking the captain’s role in setting direction and keeping the team aligned on the strategy. Only finance has the systems, standards and oversight to deliver ESG data with the same integrity as financial reporting.  

To lead effectively, CFOs must embed ESG into core finance cycles: planning, budgeting, forecasting, investment decision-making. This means establishing ESG as a strategic input, building the workflows, controls and cross-functional collaboration needed to make that shift stick. 

A team sport: ESG reporting is no longer just a compliance function 

ESG has traditionally been used to attract investors and measure a company’s environmental, social and governance impact – and it still plays this role to this day. Companies have also tended to treat it as a compliance activity, or a separate function run under roles like a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) or the ESG department.  

But the very pillars of ESG all impact corporate financial performance. ESG initiatives, whether that’s making sustainable investments into supply chain choices or putting on social events to build community connections, all need investment and resources. So, the finance department’s oversight for how these are carried out is crucial.   

Consequently, it makes perfect sense that ESG reporting is included as a key part of the finance function – it can influence everything from where capital is invested to how companies explore new business opportunities. And from receiving a return on investment to boosting brand reputation, ESG schemes directly impact business performance too. 

What this also demonstrates is the crossover between many departments. ESG is a holistic activity, and the CFO has a leading role to play in coordinating cross-functional ESG efforts.  

The captain’s role: How finance can lead without owning everything  

The best sports teams have a strong culture and identity in how they play. They also have strong leadership and organisational structure. The senior leadership behind the scenes don’t take ownership of everyday training and matches, but they provide the funds and overall strategy that helps the team to deliver the best performance. 

In a similar manner, even though ESG reporting should be a key part of the finance function, CFOs and finance leaders can lead without owning everything. Different departments will want a level of ownership over how they make decisions.  What finance can do is oversee resource allocation and make decisions that best align with overall business and ESG strategy. In particular, the CFO can act as an example and set a top-down influence. They can motivate departments to look into ESG options and make sustainability goals part of the criteria for reporting on their financial performance.  

What this depends on is collaboration – and increasingly, a higher level of tech adoption. If strong lines of communication are supported by systems that connect finance and other departments like operations, supply chain, marketing and HR, the more tailored and unified ESG efforts can be. A team effort that also helps individual entities to perform at their best.  

Tactics to embed ESG into financial planning 

Taking the lead on ESG is the trigger to building awareness of its importance and inserting it into financial activities. To do this, the first step is to combine ESG data with finance data – this involves incorporating ESG goals into activities like budgeting, forecasting and risk assessment. Specifically, finance should look to outline clear, measurable ESG KPIs and align them with both business goals and regulatory requirements.   

But accurately measuring, analysing and reporting on ESG hinges on implementing effective software and processes that can show the necessary performance insights. Achieving this requires using a central finance management platform that can connect to a range of business-critical systems and show a real-time picture of financial and ESG performance across the business.  

Look for platforms that have features like multi-dimensional reporting, whereby users can track KPIs across their entities and drill down on various dimensions. For a mid-market company, for instance, this would enable their CFO and finance team to see how an ESG project has contributed to a specific department or location’s performance, or to take a holistic view of ESG activity across their group.  

With this setup in place, finance can effectively communicate and report on progress with various business departments, locations, the C-suite, suppliers and consumers. In turn, this provides visibility and sets up two-way communication, building the idea of ESG as a team sport.  

Leading the side 

The ESG playbook has evolved beyond the compliance function. It’s now a team sport requiring input from across the business. In particular, ESG and finance directly impact each other and so today’s finance team has a managerial role to play in integrating ESG reporting into business strategy. Individual departments can and should take ownership over their role in the team – but finance provides the means and motivation for them to do this while overseeing the collective team performance.  

With the right finance software and processes at their disposal, finance can deliver precise ESG reporting and prove the value of ESG programmes, both in shareholder value and natural and social capital. This allows CFOs to allocate the necessary resources and finances to contribute to real, measurable change. And, above all, this means they can target ESG investments that support long-term company sustainability and growth.  

There’s no question ESG reporting is a team sport. But it’s time for finance to step up and lead the side.  

Meet the AccountsIQ team on stand H11 at Accountex Summit Manchester, taking place at Manchester Central on 23 September 2025.  

For further information, please visit www.accountexmanchester.com

Book your free ticket here.

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